Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation Chair of NeurologyDr. Shefner brings leadership and research expertise to Barrow

Jeremy Shefner, MD, PhD, holds the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation Chair of Neurology and is the associate director of Barrow Neurological Institute, leading neurology programs and services for the institute. In addition, the University of Arizona has named Dr. Shefner the chair of the Department of Neurology for its downtown Phoenix medical school.

Dr. Shefner is a renowned amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) physician and scientist with a research focus on biomarker development and clinical therapeutics of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He co-founded and co-chaired the Northeast ALS Clinical Trials Consortium, the largest and most active ALS-dedicated group of its kind in the world.

Dr. Shefner says he came to Barrow because of the strength of its neurosurgery department, the opportunities to grow its neurology department and to lead its ALS center of excellence, the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders Center.

In 2014, Dr. Shefner’s impact on ALS was recognized when he won the prestigious Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research from the American Academy of Neurology and The ALS Association.

Before coming to Barrow, Dr. Shefner served as the chair of the Department of Neurology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., and as the director of the ALS Program and the Neurophysiology Laboratory at SUNY.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Shefner join our team at Barrow,” says Robert Spetzler, MD, President and CEO of Barrow, which is part of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. “Dr. Shefner brings with him an impressive neurology background and strong leadership abilities that will help continue Barrow’s rich and bold legacy of providing extraordinary medicine.”

Dr. Shefner earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School, completed his residency at Harvard Longwood Neurology Training Program and was a fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School.